Angel Rusev won three bronze medals at the European under-20 and under-23 weightlifting championships in Rashin (Poland).
The four-time European men’s champion competes in the bigs on the podium in the suburbs of the capital Warsaw and also in the top 61kg category for him. Rusev is lifting at the heavier weights so as not to disrupt his preparation by cutting weight for the men’s world championships in Bahrain in December.
In the throw, the graduate of Radoslav and Krastina Atanasovi from TSK “Ruse” made three successful attempts, easily overcoming 105, 109 and 111 kg successively. In the deadlift, the 23-year-old Bulgarian started with a bang at 135 kg, then lifted 141 kg, and only 145 kg turned out to be too much.
Armenian Garik Cholakian became the champion in the category with 275 kg (125+150), ahead of Andriy Revko (Ukraine) with 260 kg (112+148).
In the category up to 55 kg of the same age group, Deniz Danev was a hair’s breadth away from the medals. Rusev’s teammate collected a fight of 216 kg (95+121). In the throw, Danev finished only at his opening weight of 95 kg, then stumbled at 100 and 101 kg. In the clean and jerk, he managed 115 and 121 kg, but fell short at 126 kg.
The title went to Federico Barella (Italy) with 233 kg (103+130), ahead of Bachuki Shamilishvili (Georgia) with 229 kg (100+129) and Lulian Betka (Moldova) with 228 kg (102+126).
Thus, Bulgaria already has seven awards at the championship in Poland. Boyana Kostadinova (“Maritsa”) is the vice-champion of Europe in the category up to 45 kg among the smaller ones. The Bulgarian competitor of Borislav Nalbantov earned a total of three honors on the podium in Rashin. After her, Dzhan Zarkov (TSK “Ruse”) in the smaller category up to 55 kg took bronze in the push with a result of 127 kg.
A total of 15 people represented Bulgaria at the championship. Their participation is ensured by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.